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A teenage girl sobbed in court today when the rapist who assaulted her in a flowerbed in a secluded alleyway in Westfield Stratford shopping center was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
The 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named by name for legal reasons, was separated from her friends on September 4 last year after a night of drinking at the Bat and Ball bar in Westfield, despite being a minor.
At about 10:30 p.m., while “heavily under the influence of alcohol,” she was approached by Albanian citizen Rufat Kasamaj, 36, who was caught on CCTV footage observing her.
Sexual predator Kasamaj, from High Road, Leyton, East London, led his young victim into a secluded alleyway and ‘draged’ her into a flower bed before raping her.
Prosecutor Tim Forster told the Old Bailey: “She got separated from her friends after one of them got involved in some sort of fight and from her memory the defendant started touching her ass from the start.”
Sexual predator and Albanian citizen Rufat Kasamaj (pictured), 36 of High Road, Leyton, east London has been sentenced today to 10 and a half years in prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Westfield Stratford
Kasamaj led his young victim into a secluded alley outside the Westfield shopping center (pictured) and ‘draged’ her into a flower bed before raping her on September 4 last year
Kasamaj, who came to the UK in 2017, initially pleaded guilty to the crime in Snaresbrook Crown Court last October.
He was allowed to withdraw that plea in March of this year.
A trial date was set for July 11, but on that day Kasamaj again pleaded guilty.
He appeared at the Old Bailey today in a gray wool sweater and looked down at the floor during the hearing.
Kasamaj was jailed for ten and a half years. He will serve two-thirds of that sentence in prison before an extended five-year license is imposed. He will be subject to the notification obligation for an indefinite period of time.
A second count of sexual assault was ordered to be on file.
The bar-bar Bat and Ball nearly lost its license as a result of the incident, having been served alcohol despite being a minor. Metropolitan Police’s PC Gary Watson told Newham Council there had been no challenge from the bar staff, despite the group looking ‘significantly less’ than 18.
The girl, now 16, was in the pit of the court between her parents and occasionally cried during the hearing.
Judge Mark Dennis told Kasamaj: “On September 4 last year you committed a truly terrible crime by subjecting your 15-year-old victim to a traumatic ordeal without pity or concern for her suffering in the pursuit of your own sexual, violent gratification.
“You were far from drunk.
“In a calculated way, you chose to take advantage of a lone woman who was clearly in no position to protect herself from such an attack.
“It was clearly her young age and vulnerability that you recognized and gripped, regardless of the irreversible damage you would inflict on her.”
The judge said the victim had shown “commendable fortitude” from the start.
When he went to the witness stand in person, his victim said in tears that she had “constantly relived my worst nightmare” and that she had been forced to miss her education and take medication because of stress.
“I went through some dark spots,” she told the court.
“I had to sleep with my bedroom light on because of fear and anxiety.
“I’ve had many sleepless nights crying myself to sleep with suicidal thoughts running through my head.”
“You did this to me,” she told the rapist.
The 15-year-old girl was separated from her friends after a night of heavy drinking at the Bat and Ball bar (pictured) in Westfield, despite being a minor
She went on to say that she was due to start her senior year at school and take her final exams a few days after the incident.
‘Unfortunately this was not possible. I was an emotional, physical mess.
“I couldn’t sleep, let alone function and focus on school.
“I went through my darkest days as a 15-year-old girl.
“Emotionally this crime has torn me apart.”
The teen said she wanted to end on a ‘positive note’ and told the court that she has passed all her final exams, is now studying and has a part-time job.
“I am determined that this incident will not ruin my life and make me a stronger person than I ever was.”
Prosecutor Tim Forster said: ‘This case, in summary, concerns the vaginal rape of a heavily intoxicated and vulnerable 15-year-old girl by a stranger more than twice her age on September 4 at Westfield Shopping Center in Stratford.
“On that day, the victim went to the mall with friends.
‘She got heavily intoxicated after drinking in a bar and after being separated from her friends, she ran into this defendant.
“They had never met.
“After leading her out of the mall and finally taking her behind a concrete seating area and flower bed, he digitally penetrated her vagina and then did so with his penis.
Although she was too drunk to resist, she made it clear to him several times that she didn’t want to engage in sexual activity and also told him she was under 16.
“After raping her, he just walked away and left her where she was.”
CCTV captured Kasamaj leading his victim through the mall and made it clear from her unsteadiness that she was “heavily drunk.”
She had twice the legal amount of alcohol in her blood, the court heard.
“It’s clear she drank too much alcohol, but it’s also clear she was in a bar where she should never have been served,” Mr Forster said.
“She told him she had lost her friends and he tried to reassure her, but according to the Crown this was clearly a sham,” he added. “He told her he would help her get home. He did just the opposite.
“He started putting his hand down the back of her leggings, his finger in her vagina, she told him she was 15, but he kept doing it aggressively so it hurt her. All the while he was guiding or directing her as they walked through the mall.’
The court heard that Kasamaj “held her in her body, even led her past a chair if she wanted to sit down” as she passed members of the public.
After leading her outside, he was caught on CCTV sending his victim into an area of concrete benches to continue the attack. Despite the victim being “completely unresponsive,” the audience continued to pass by, drawing Kasamaj’s attention.
“In a calculated way you chose to take advantage of a lone woman who was clearly in no position to protect herself from such an attack,” Judge Mark Dennis told Kasamaj at the Old Bailey.
According to the prosecution, he therefore dragged the victim further in a flower bed and even reached for her handbag to get on with the more serious aspects of the assault and rape.
They were then out of sight of the CCTV cameras for 20 minutes, during which time he raped her despite her crying and pleading.
The rapist then zipped up his pants and walked away “with barely a backward glance.”
The girl emerged dazed and approached members of the audience.
Mr. Forster continued: ‘It was then that she met another stranger, this one much kinder.
“A man named Mr Marian Petrea who was walking through the mall as he left the gym.
“She told him she had been raped.
“He contacted her father and even went to the trouble of taking the train back to…where she lived before making sure she was safely back in the hands of her family.”
Her first words to Mr. Petrea were, “Please don’t hurt me.”
Judge Dennis praised Mr Petrea’s actions for showing “great strength of character” and “commendable public spirit.”
“He showed exceptional care and compassion.”
Mr Petrea will be awarded £1,000.
After the rape, Kasamaj returned to the scene of his crime twice and at one point urinated there. After a police investigation, he was subsequently arrested in September and claimed to have been ‘unconscious’ during the attack and unable to remember anything from the alcohol.
However, the prosecutor noted that “there was nothing in his demeanor to indicate that he was intoxicated.”
Defensively, Beata Kopel said the offense was serious, but “not extreme.”
She added that Kasamaj had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the crime and wanted to apologize to his victims and her family.